Lots and lots and lots of rumours doing the rounds at the moment that the new companion will be Rakhee Thakrar who appeared until recently as Shabnam in Eastenders. It seems to be spreading out of nothing but it's definitely gained some weight over the last week, especially as she seems to be following lots of DW related Twitter accounts (or maybe she's just good at pulling peoples legs for lols).

Personally I think she would be great in the role. I enjoyed her on EE and I think she could prove very popular if given a good character to work with. It'll also be nice to mix it up a bit in terms of ethnicity. It's been 8 years or more now since we had a full time companion who wasn't white and while I think that an actor should be chosen based on merit rather than race or religion, it would be good to see some diversity in the show.